


The Dragon and the Wolf

by Eirenne Saijima (ladypoetess)



Category: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Genre: Blow Jobs, Explicit Consent, Explicit Sexual Content, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Non-Canon Relationship, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 08:17:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8883598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladypoetess/pseuds/Eirenne%20Saijima
Summary: Set during The Shadow Rising, following the bubble of evil in the Stone of Tear, Perrin visits Rand --with Faile's blessing-- and the two find that everything, and nothing, has changed between them.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [reighchama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reighchama/gifts).



> Grateful thanks to [Steel](http://www.archiveofourown.org/users/Steel) for beta comments.

_ “Oh, Perrin, sometimes I believe it is your innocence I enjoy most of all.” Sure enough, traces of laughter silvered her voice. “You go on to . . . to your friend and tell me of it in the morning. As much as you want to.” She pulled his head down to brush his lips with a kiss and, as quick as the kiss, ran back down the hallway. _

Faile was a wondrous contradiction at all times, to Perrin's mind. Let him look too long or act in not quite the right way to another woman and Faile's scent went spiky and sharp with jealousy. But now, it almost seemed that she knew of his deeper relationship that had existed with Rand for years before they left the Two Rivers, and more that she was encouraging it!  _ Must be a Saldaean thing, _ Perrin muttered to himself as he continued the walk to Rand's chambers in the Stone.

Once he had made his way past Bain and Chiad and their roles as door guardians, the scene that greeted Perrin was straight from a nightmare. It turned out that it was a nightmare, of sorts, one the Dragon Reborn might be tormented with, but then brought to life by the bubble of evil that burst upon the pattern. That same bubble of evil had brought one of Perrin's own nightmares to life just moments earlier, so he was in no state to judge the mess of blood and broken glass in which he found his erstwhile lover.

He did all the things that the Dragon Reborn's friend was expected to do -- call for the Aiel, send for Moiraine, and then grab a makeshift bandage to hold back the flood of blood the best he could while he murmured encouragement that he wasn't sure Rand was even hearing.

When it was over, the wounds Healed by the Aes Sedai --all except that one in his side-- and Rand barely able to hold himself upright, Perrin found he just wanted the rest to go and leave him alone with Rand. For his part, Rand seemed to just want left alone, period. But he did not fail to lock eyes with Perrin and say they would speak later --an innocuous thing to anyone else, but laden with meaning for Perrin, who knew Rand better than anyone.

_ "Rand?" Perrin said. _

_ "We do what we have to." Rand did not look up from the clear hilt between his hands. "We all do what we have to." He smelled afraid. _

Perrin followed Rhuarc out of the room while the two Maidens bullied Rand into letting them clean him up. Perrin shoved down a twinge of jealous irritation that they were the ones to tend to Rand, but he knew better than to press the point; it would cause questions that were best left unasked or even thought of here and now. There was too much riding on Rand's newly forming reputation and status, and a boyhood lover --a _ jealous _ boyhood lover-- who was not Egwene would probably cause too many of these stiff-necked Tairen nobles to peer down their noses at Rand and dismiss him. Perrin had seen enough of the world now to understand how different --how odd-- people from other places could be about the most normal, sensible things. And so Perrin let the Maidens bathe Rand's newly Healed wounds and clean the blood from his skin, while he turned his attention to Rhuarc and the Aiel prophecy that Rand was apparently part of, and that was also apparently not the same thing as the prophecy of the Dragon Reborn. The more Perrin heard of the things Rand was learning about the prophecies, the more glad he was that the prophecies didn't concern  _ him _ .

Perrin's mind was not on the conversation he was having with Rhuarc, but he tried to at least look like he was paying attention to the clan chief. When the Aielman wished him what Perrin supposed was the Aiel form of 'good night' and left the antechamber in front of Rand's chambers, Perrin very nearly began to walk back to the room he was sharing with Faile. He wasn't sure what stopped him; some fragment of sound, some light, overlaid scent, but Perrin stopped and waited. Another few breaths of time and the door to the chambers opened and the Maidens emerged with the basin of now-bloody water and soiled towels and linens. With the way now obviously clear, Perrin turned and moved back toward the door, only to be stopped by an Aiel Maiden he did not know by name.

"Rand al'Thor needs his rest now, Perrin Aybara." She was not veiled and she did not have a spear in hand, but Perrin kept his distance from her all the same.

"I will not disturb his rest, I only want to see that he is settled for the night."

"Do you think we cannot see that he is comfortable and well, Perrin Aybara?" There was a note of challenge in the Maiden's voice, but her scent smelled... amused?

"I didn't say that--" Perrin would have continued, but Bain interrupted to flash some of that rapid hand movement talk at the other Maiden.

"Let him pass; he and Rand al'Thor will both rest easier for having time to talk." Bain's scent was also amused, but had an approving undertone to it that Perrin wasn't about to even guess at.

Perrin slipped through the door soundlessly, a trick that no one had ever caught on to, despite his fondness for it. People saw his size and assumed he would be a loud, lumbering beast, in the same way they thought his careful manner of thought was the same as being slow-witted. Perrin did neither thing as a way to surprise people, but he was not sorry that it did so, just the same.

The room was dim with only a couple of candles lit near the bed, but it was more than enough light for Perrin's eyes to see the slumped posture of Rand's body as he sat in a chair by the bed, leaning his forehead onto the pommel of  _ Callandor _ .

"Rand."

Without moving or smelling the least bit surprised, Rand's weary voice replied, "I thought I told everyone to go away, that I'd speak with you tomorrow, Perrin."

"Light burn you, Rand, you don't get to tell  _ me  _ to go away, not the way you can give orders to Moiraine or the Tairen High Lords or whomever else jumps for you these days. Not me." Perrin's voice held more heat than he'd intended to put into it, but lingering adrenaline from the bubble of evil and the fight with the axe, combined with the panic of seeing Rand so injured and now so exhausted he could hardly stand had frayed the ends of Perrin's temper to near breaking.

There were several long moments of silence in the room, only the barest whisper of breath was evident even to Perrin's hearing. Then, at last, a resigned sigh.

"You're right, of course. I'm sorry, Perrin. Maybe Mat's right; maybe I'm getting too full of myself with all my fine clothes and new titles."

"Hrmph." Perrin's answering snort spoke volumes. Then, as he lifted Rand from the chair and all but carried him to the bed, he enumerated those volumes.

"Mat's got a head stuffed full of twice-washed Coplin wool, and you know it." Perrin let Rand slide down into the chair closest to the bed, where he could place  _ Callandor  _ on its stand when he was ready, while Perrin hauled the shredded mattress from the bed and heaved it into a corner where the rest of the glass and debris had been piled. "You weren't full of yourself even back in Shienar, though you tried to make us think you were, that's for certain. Clothes don't make a person any different than they were before. Light, even the titles you've gotten haven't really changed who you  _ are _ , Rand."

Silence fell between them for a few moments while Perrin wrestled the new, undamaged mattress onto the frame of the bed --a job that would normally have fallen to 2 or 3 palace servants, given the size of the bed-- and then went to retrieve a set of clean and undamaged linens for it. As he snapped the clean linens out over the mattress and tucked them securely around it, Perrin continued.

"You are who you are, Rand. Both who you have always been and who you are meant to be, and not even Mat thinks less of you for trying to be who you have to be." With the linens placed more-or-less neatly on the mattress, Perrin bent to examine the light comforters and found one that wasn't too badly damaged in Rand's desperate sword battle against many tiny versions of himself, and which did not have much blood at all on it, and then spread that out over the mattress as well. Some of the pillows were well beyond saving, but a small up side to the Tairen penchant for piling pillows half again the height of the bed was that it meant some were bound to escape destruction. In fairly short order, Perrin was rounding the bed to lift Rand from the chair again.

"I can walk, you know." The voice was weary, but Perrin could still hear the faintest hint of amusement.

"Humor me." Perrin's strong arms effortlessly lifted Rand from the floor into the bed, settling him into the pillows and tucking the blankets around him. When Perrin moved as if to step back and sit in the chair, Rand reached out and caught his wrist.

"Stay, please?" The longing in Rand's voice tore at Perrin, but more so the mingled scent of fear and loneliness. So, rounding the bed and slipping off his boots, Perrin climbed into the bed beside Rand and pulled the taller man into his arms until Rand's red hair was tickling his shoulder and Perrin could feel the chill from Rand's skin tucked up below his chin.

Perrin held Rand quietly for several minutes, gradually feeling the other man's skin warm, and as it did so Rand's scent changed. The weariness began to fade into the background, edged out by a slick scent that Perrin realized was desire. The loneliness scent was still there, which only made the desire scent sharper to Perrin. And so it was no surprise when Rand shifted enough to tilt his head up and press a kiss to the beard-roughened underside of Perrin's jaw; it was no surprise that Perrin was sure his own scent would mimic Rand's, if he could decipher his own emotional scents.

Perrin's arms tightened around Rand at the light pressure of the kiss, his chin first tilting up to give Rand a better vantage to his throat and jaw line, and then down to catch Rand's mouth with his own and claim a full, intense kiss. Rand's right hand had been resting lightly on Perrin's chest until now, when he threaded his fingers through the light pelt there and gently closed his hand into a fist to tug on the hair. Perrin heard his own low growl before he knew he'd made a sound, sliding Rand up along his thigh until the other man's face was level with his own, the better claim all the kisses he could want.

The movement freed Rand's other arm to slide up and around Perrin's neck, the long fingers twining into Perrin's curly hair and gripping there whenever the kisses grew more intense. Every so often, Rand would break off a kiss and pull back to peer at Perrin in the dim candlelight, unable to see more than shadows and the soft glowing yellow of Perrin's eyes. It didn't matter how little he could see with his eyes, however, when Rand could see everything that mattered in Perrin's heart already. And every once in awhile, Rand would dip his head down to kiss the spot on Perrin's neck where the corded muscles of his shoulders meet the smoother muscles of his neck, and then to nip lightly with his teeth until Perrin was growling wordlessly and gripping Rand tightly, one hand roaming over Rand's lean form.

Perrin stayed still as long as he could, his right arm holding Rand’s body firmly against his own, while his left hand strayed along the skin exposed by Rand’s smallclothes. With each kiss and nip and shift of hips that pressed the unexposed (but quite obvious) evidence of Rand’s desire against Perrin’s thigh, the growls became more pronounced and it grew more difficult to stay still. And when Rand shifted up just enough to nip at Perrin’s ear and let out a low, throaty moan, Perrin’s control cracked and he flipped Rand onto his back, pressing him hard into the pillows.

“Perrin--” Rand’s voice was slightly breathless as he started to speak, but Perrin’s fierce kiss cut him off. Only when Rand was truly breathless, too much so to speak, did Perrin relent with a soft growl.

Satisfied that Rand wasn’t going to move or speak, Perrin sat back on his heels, looking at the man he’d grown up with and whom he loved since they were young teenagers. So much was different now, for both of them, but this had not changed for Perrin, and he hoped to the Light that neither had it for Rand.

Perrin locked his gaze on Rand’s face, though he doubted Rand could see much besides his eyes clearly in the dim light of the room. Slowly, by fingerspans at a time, Perrin pulled back the blankets, exposing the rest of Rand’s body. Rand’s breath, that had slowed somewhat without Perrin against him, began to speed up again. And when Perrin ran his hands up Rand’s legs to the edge of his smallclothes, Rand’s breath hitched in anticipation. Perrin brushed his fingers lightly over the rigid mound hidden by the thin fabric and felt Rand’s whole body twitch. Perrin crawled his fingers to the top of the fabric and tugged lightly, then stopped, waiting for Rand’s unwavering consent before continuing. It didn’t take long-- Rand’s hands covered his and pushed at the fabric, wanting it out of the way as much as he did. With a few quick movements, the smallclothes were dropped to the floor, along with Perrin’s shirt.

Perrin stopped again, looking at the sun-darkened and pale, straining body of the man before him. It was always obvious to Perrin that Rand’s parentage wasn’t entirely from the Two Rivers, however much he grew up there. The sun tanned his exposed skin to look almost like that of other farm and shepherd boys, but the skin that did not see the sun was always paler than Perrin’s own. Right now, that difference and contrast struck Perrin as beautiful.

Suddenly Perrin leaned forward, exhaling hotly from just a whisper away from the hard, slightly swaying evidence of Rand’s arousal, before sliding forward and letting his chest press against Rand, the hair rasping against the silky skin. Rand’s moan slid into whimpering until Perrin claimed his mouth again in a hot kiss, at the same time sliding one hand down to stroke the skin of Rand’s hip. He stayed that way for a long moment, until Rand impatiently tried to twist his hips enough to thrust into Perrin’s hand. Laughing softly, Perrin pulled his hand back and started to kiss down Rand’s neck and chest, licking and nipping at random. As Perrin’s lips approached Rand’s waist, he shifted himself to the bed between Rand’s legs and reached his arms up from beneath Rand’s legs to grasp and hold his wrists tightly.

Perrin tilted his head back enough to look up at Rand’s face; lips parted, eyes glazed and half open, breath coming quick. With a growl that he knew would reverberate through his chest to vibrate Rand’s hips, Perrin ducked his head and closed his mouth over Rand’s hardness. Gently at first, then with more pressure, Perrin stroked the length of Rand’s hard shaft with his lips, licking at the underside and sucking steadily. Perrin could hear the soft, wordless moans Rand was making and he growled in appreciation of them, delighting in the way Rand twitched in his mouth at the growls. Up and down, Perrin worked his mouth and tongue over and around Rand, once or twice lightly dragging his teeth along the sensitive skin, then licking over the same path. When Rand was straining at Perrin’s hands, pulling his arms away even as he thrust his hips upward in short jerks, Perrin let go and slipped his hands beneath Rand’s bare hips, instead. As if choreographed, Perrin pulled Rand’s hips upward toward him as Rand’s hands tangled into Perrin’s hair, pulling his mouth harder around Rand’s manhood.

It wasn’t long before Rand’s rapid, shallow breaths gave way to gasping and whimpering as he twisted his head sideways to moan loudly into a pillow. Perrin knew the peak was coming when Rand’s hands went stiff against his head, the corded muscles of his thighs taut and straining beneath him. Perrin’s mouth worked relentlessly, ceasing only when he felt Rand begin to spasm and buck under him, his breathing all but stopping in the face of a more urgent need. As the waves passed, Perrin held perfectly still until, as Rand’s body began to relax, he felt Rand take a shuddering breath again. Only then did Perrin lift his head and relax his hold on Rand.

Perrin disentangled himself from Rand’s legs and slid up the mattress to stretch out alongside him again, pulling the blankets up to tuck them around his rapidly-cooling body.

“You need sleep, Rand.” Perrin’s voice was soft again, without a hint of the feral nature it had taken on just moments before.

“I will, Perrin. But I needed that; I needed you. You remind me of the things that haven’t changed.” In the darkness, Perrin could see that he smiled then. “And some things that have; when did you develop that growl?”

Perrin was glad that Rand couldn’t see the faint flush he knew was in his cheeks then. “That’s a conversation for another time, Rand.”

“If you say so.” Rand’s voice was already thickening with sleep.

“Good night, Rand.” And softly, almost to himself, “Good night, love.”


End file.
